Red and green do cause problems for those with some forms of color vision deficiencies, especially if they have similar levels of lightness and saturation. We see that orange and green are also difficult to distinguish for those with color vision deficiencies. Other combinations may cause problems as well. I recommend using a color vision simulator to make sure that figures are accessible to as large an audience as possible.
When drawing charts and graphs it is important that the individual charts be clear, concise, and easy to understand. In addition, we must consider consistency in groups of charts to make sure that we do not confuse or mislead the reader.
Misleading graphs detract from Sarah Kliff's otherwise interesting post on the length of President Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Many graph experts disagree with Darryl Huff’s argument that the scales of all graphs must begin at zero. I discuss why the rule for bar graphs may differ from that for line graphs.
PowerPoint presentations with multiple sequential graphs, such as monthly results each on a separate slide, tax viewers' short-term memory, preventing them from absorbing the results. Beth Lisberg Najberg shows a way to alleviate the problem as a guest blogger in Naomi Robbins' blog on effective graphs.
I present an alternative to Ezra Klein’s chart showing Romney’s and Obama’s tax plans in one chart so that equal intervals on the axis represent equal amounts.
